U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/878,823 and 60/878,817, both filed Jan. 5, 2007, are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
Many agricultural combines use a rotary threshing and/or separating system. The system typically includes at least one rotor drivingly rotated within a rotor housing including a perforated concave spaced radially outwardly thereof. The rotor will often have a frusto-conical inlet end having a helical flight or flights therearound for conveying a flow of crop material into a space between the rotor and the housing. The main body of the rotor will typically have an array or layout of threshing elements, such as rasp bars, and separating elements, such as straight separator bars, and the like, which protrude radially outwardly therefrom into the space for conveying a mat of the crop material along a helical path through the space, while cooperating with the concave to separate larger components of the crop, namely crop residue commonly referred to as straw, which includes stalks, stems, cobs and the like, from the smaller grain and material other than grain (MOG).
The threshing/separating elements are typically attached to the rotor through the use of either hardware or the combination of hardware and a mount welded to the rotor tube. Usually a single bolt fastens each of the rasp bars and separator bars to a respective sheet metal mount welded to the rotor tube. This single bolt attachment method is known for its simplicity and ease of service. As combines have started to utilize smaller diameter rotors within the housing (sometimes referred to as “small tube” technology), the rasp bars and separator bars have become larger and the crop mat is often thicker. It has been noted, however, that operation with a thicker crop mat creates increased loading conditions, namely higher forces on the threshing/separating elements, particularly on straight separator bar type separating elements. The loading conditions generated by the interaction of the thicker crop mat with the outer surface features of the larger threshing/separating elements, create a moment at the bolt attachment to the mounting lug and urge radially outward movement of the leading edge of the elements. In some cases it has become increasingly difficult to maintain a structurally sound assembly wherein the threshing/separating elements can remain fixed to the rotor throughout various operational and crop loading scenarios. Thus, threshing/separating elements mounted to the rotor using the traditional single point attachment have been found to be inadequate in light of the increased loading conditions exerted against the threshing/separating elements, as a result of such loads as are encountered with the smaller diameter rotor constructions.
Accordingly, what is sought is a locking system for attaching a threshing and/or separating element to a rotor of a threshing system of an agricultural combine which overcomes at least one of the problems, shortcomings or disadvantages set forth above.